Alabama carries out 1st execution in more than 2 years

ATMORE, ALA. &GT;&GT; Here is the latest on the execution of Christopher Eugene Brooks in Alabama. (All times are local):)

6:38 p.m.

A man convicted of the 1992 rape and beating death of a woman has been put to death in Alabama's first execution in more than two years.

Authorities say 43-year-old Christopher Eugene Brooks received a lethal injection in a procedure starting at 6:06 p.m. local time Thursday at a state prison in Atmore. Corrections Department spokesman Bob Horton says Brooks was pronounced dead at 6:38 p.m.

Brooks was condemned for the slaying of 23-year-old Jo Deann Campbell on New Year's Eve of that year. Prosecutors said Campbell was beaten in her apartment with a dumbbell and sexually assaulted.

Alabama's last execution was in 2013. Brooks' execution was the first using Alabama's new lethal drug combination featuring the sedative midazolam.

6:05 p.m.

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a last-minute request to stop Thursday evening's scheduled execution of a man convicted of a woman's 1992 rape and murder.

The nation's highest court issued a brief statement Thursday evening that it had denied the request by an attorney for 43-year-old inmate Christopher Eugene Brooks. It did not elaborate.

Brooks was scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday evening at a state prison in Atmore.

Brooks' attorney had asked the U.S. Supreme Court for the stay, arguing that Alabama's new lethal drug combination needed further scrutiny.

4:35 p.m.

An official says Alabama inmate Christopher Eugene Brooks has been visited by three attorneys, two friends and a clergy member ahead of his scheduled execution Thursday evening.

Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton also says a clergy member will be allowed to stay with Brooks until he is led into the execution chamber at the state prison in Atmore. The 43-year-old inmate is to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. CST. He was convicted of the 1992 rape and murder of 23-year-old Jo Deann Campbell.

Horton says state law requires the prison warden to administer lethal injection drugs. He is to do so from a separate room via an intravenous line after the death warrant is read.

Brooks has been in a nearby holding cell since Tuesday. He requested two peanut butter cups and a soft drink for his final meal.

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1:25 p.m.

A federal judge is ordering Alabama prison officials to keep medical records for a state inmate set to receive a lethal injection Thursday night.

U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins issued the order hours before the scheduled execution of Christopher Eugene Brooks. Brooks was condemned for the slaying of a woman who was sexually assaulted and bludgeoned to death in Birmingham in 1992.

Watkins' order responded to a motion filed by lawyers representing Alabama death row inmates. The judge says prison officials must preserve any logs kept by the execution team and any data generated by an electric heartbeat monitor. But he didn't say inmates' lawyers will get to see them.

Inmate attorneys cannot witness the insertion of the intravenous line into Brooks' body before the planned execution, Watkins ruled. He also denied a request for drug packaging and records to be preserved.

The attorneys represent six inmates challenging the state's execution method.

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12:55 p.m.

Relatives of a woman raped and killed in 1992 say they're headed to an Alabama prison where the inmate convicted in the case is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening. But Corinne Campbell, a sister of murder victim Jo Deann Campbell, says the family members haven't decided whether to witness the planned execution.

Corinne Campbell told The Associated Press by phone Thursday that she, another sister and her mother were in route to the correctional facility in Atmore.

She said her sister was very welcoming and trusting and that Christopher Eugene Brooks had showed up uninvited ahead of the 1992 killing, asking for a place to stay.

Brooks is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. CST at the Atmore facility.

The sister says she still misses her slain sister: "She was young, energetic, bubbly, hard-working. The young lady had no enemies."

She added of Brooks: "We hope he has asked for forgiveness from God."

This item has been updated to correct the spelling of Corinne Campbell's first name.

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3:35 a.m.

A man convicted of the 1992 rape and bludgeoning death of a woman is scheduled to be put to death Thursday in Alabama's first execution in more than two years.

Forty-three-year-old Christopher Eugene Brooks is to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. CST. Brooks was condemned for the death of 23-year-old Jo Deann Campbell.

Prosecutors said Campbell was beaten in her apartment with an 8-pound dumbbell and sexually assaulted.

Alabama's last execution was in 2013. It's to be the first using the state's new lethal drug combination featuring the sedative midazolam.

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